


One by one

by Lunaztorta



Series: The Angst Collection [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU, Angst, Blood and Gore, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Dehydration, Fanart, Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Graphic Description of Corpses, Inspired by Fanart, Starvation, Suicide, Vomiting, artwork, robot gore, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:34:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24215254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunaztorta/pseuds/Lunaztorta
Summary: [From @sttanish post on Instagram]Kai, Cole, Zane and Jay never encountered the Hunters and never found their way back home from the First Realm. There's barely any food or water around for all of them, and they will die, one by one.Little Wu is left behind in Ninjago.This work is another collaboration, this time with @sttanish on IG, based on an amazing edit she made with her drawings, which you can find at the following link https://www.instagram.com/p/B_6dBSHl-Lb/.It hit me so deep I had to look at it for hours before I could process how much I loved it. I am really grateful to have the possibility to write this story based on her AU. It's strong, violent, sad, heart-breaking, it rips your soul. It is sublime in the very strict meaning of the word, so horrific you can't tear your eyes off, but still utterly beautiful.Fanart will be implemented at the right time.TRIGGER WARNINGS: Please, read carefully the tags, the story will be very explicit.
Series: The Angst Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740910
Comments: 16
Kudos: 31





	One by one

Sand and rocks. Rocks and sand. More sand and more rocks. The orangish sky above them was motionless and unchanging, giving off the twisting and uncomfortable feeling that time didn't exist and therefore nothing could ever really change. It seemed like as if it was mocking them. They would sometimes sight some dragon into the distance, but other than that, there was nothing. Nothing but sand and rocks, rocks and sand. More sand and more rocks.

<<>>

On the first day they remained by the pitiful wreckage that was once their glorious ship, recovering what they could, checking supplies and what still worked. It was a lucky thing that at least they had been sent in that forsaken place with the stern of the ship, where galley and food storage held place.  
When finished with the urgent matters, they hastily circled their base with a ring of torches before night time for they knew pretty well what this place was. It was the First Realm, the Realm of the Oni and the Dragon. They feared that if the dragons ruled the day, the oni would rule the night. They couldn't risk it, and the only way they knew to protect themselves was through the light of a fire. They took turns to keep watch.

<<>>

On the second day they discussed about how to go back home. Inside the paper bag they were given by Mistaké there was no more Traveller's Tea. They knew that dragons could travel through different Realms, nevertheless the suggestion had been soon discarded for there were too many unknown data, not to mention they wouldn't even be able to capture one of those majestic creatures. In every direction they looked into through their binoculars, their eyes were always only met with immense stretches of stony desert. If they ever were to get home, back to Ninjago, their only chance was to be found into their torn shack.  
They all agreed that trying to build a radio was their best shot to reach out for help, was it to be found in their homeland or in that Realm. The whole group scattered around the place of the impact, looking for whatever could be fitting for the project. Metal and wooden scraps where piled up on what remained of the main bridge, while Zane would disassemble the broken equipment of the ship to recover wires and electronics they needed.  
That night they shared a quite cheerfully dinner. Their spirits were high, for they had a plan to focus on, food and water supplies for some weeks if well administrated, they had a place and friends to return to. All of that gave them hope. Ninja never quit.  
Only Jay seemed to be a bit off, his mood clouded by the thought of Nya. He already missed her and couldn't help but being worried sick about her. Garmadon had conquered Ninjago City when they were sent in that spooky place after all. Was she safe? Like the day before, they took turns to keep watch.

<<>>

On the third day they split for the first time. The Elemental Masters of Ice and Lightning stayed behind to start working and tinkering on the radio, a job more suited for the nindroid and the mechanic. The Masters of Earth and Fire had the task to explore and possibly map the immediate surroundings.

Before departing, Zane instructed them in detail what to look for and how to behave out there into the unknown. The goal of their mission was to find any source of food or water to replenish their stocks and to look for any traces of sentient life that might help free them from that thorny mess they were trapped into. Zane told them how to keep their pace steady, not too fast so that they wouldn't tire themselves out, not too slow to prevent them to remain too much under the blazing sun risking dehydration. They had to take shelter every now and then in the cool shade of the tallest rocks. Water was their most valuable resource and he recommended them to take often very little sips instead of gulping everything down in one go and waste it all in urine. Last, they were expected to be really cautious too. No one knew what they might be encountering out there. They were to avoid fights at all cost to preserve energies and more importantly, to prevent injuries. Zane knew he wouldn't be able to patch his brothers up with the little he got and wasn't fond of the idea to have to saw a limb away because of a nasty and not treated infection. They all had to remain healthy. In any case, if necessary, Zane would have done anything to save his family. He was not going to loose them.  
When the two parties met again right before the sun sank beyond the far horizon, neither of them had good news to share. Zane and Jay couldn't find essential pieces to build a functioning radio, and on the other side Cole and Kai found whatsoever around them as far as the eye could see in those deserted wastelands apart from rocks and sand.  
That night everyone could notice Jay's restlessness, how his frightened eyes kept staring into the darkness behind their protective ring of fire. They took turns to keep watch, but Zane didn't wake up the Blue Ninja when it was his call, letting him dwell into his uneasy sleep.

<<>>

On the fifth day they still did no progress. They continued looking for missing components for their radio, their only hope to get in contact with someone, anyone, to no avail. They continued looking for any living soul apart from them, finding none. They continued looking for water and food, with no success. Nothing ever happened around them. But something was happening within them.

Their morale was dropping, slowly chopped off little by little by their every failure. During the day the implacable sun would burn their skins, during the night they would grit their teeth because of the unforgiving cold.  
Zane, being a nindroid, was the only one who wasn't affected by that drastic change of environment and that thought began to feed his deepest fears. He didn't need food, nor water, nor sleep. The Ice Ninja would every time shut off the implications of that line of reasoning that hindered his programs, conflicting with his ability to focus.  
Kai had become irritable and would snap at them every time they discussed their options and plans. The Fire Ninja would spend more and more time by himself, recklessly going off and vanishing into the desert without giving them any notice, often returning after sunset as if he was praying for an attack from an oni, just for the sake of a change.  
Cole tried his best to maintain their hopes high, putting a big smile on his face, joking around, always doing his best and taking on tasks light-heartedly as if it was the first time. The Earth Ninja would tightly hold onto his charade, even if he could feel the crippling depression crawling into his heart and digging into his mind, telling him how pitiful he was, how he couldn't even keep his family together.  
Jay completely lost it. His mind had been finally crushed and shattered in billion of pieces by the hopelessness of their situation. His mind couldn't stand up to all the anxiety he had been building inside him any more. He surrendered his sanity to escape from that living hell that was his own head. The Lightning Ninja found peace by accepting their fate.  
Only Zane and Cole kept watch that night.

<<>>

On the seventh day a joyful cry could be heard across the still and dry air. Kai carefully stretched out the crumpled piece of something he just found beneath a wooden plank nearby the Bounty, scared to the death he might break it.

“... Foil? I found foil! Ah, yes!” He screamed out of his lungs, keeping that little thing close to his chest. “We have... FOIL!”

He ran towards his companions, the shiny silver treasure fluttering in his hands. His eyes were beaming, finally luck seemed to side with them again. That was just the right thing they needed to complete the radio they were so desperate to build through the week that just passed.  
Zane looked up when he heard Kai shouting and as soon as he had a close up of what the Red Ninja was holding into his hands with his robotic eyes, he sighed relieved. He would recommend Kai not to run to conserve energies, but he let it slip this time. Next to him Cole was genuinely grinning for the first time in days when Kai approached with the foil, no display of that tired and faux smile he usually kept plastered on his lips. Kai handed the valuable material over to Zane, who immediately stepped on a box to work on the device while Jay was watching with a curious look.

“Okay, let's see if it works,” spoke the nindroid as he fastened the last bit of foil.

Silence fell heavy on them. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the switch that activated the device. Kai's hand was on it, but even the fierce and determined Fire Ninja hesitated at pulling it down. His finger let loose for a moment, as if he couldn't do that. Then he grasped it again.

“Here goes nothing,” he muttered. He moved the switch down.  
  
The radio went alive, but nothing but a buzzing white noise came out of it. Zane silently moved the radio antenna in different directions trying to pick up at some frequency, but the sound didn't change. Their best chance to escape that place was working, but it looked like there was no one to reach out there to call for help.

“And that... sounds like nothing,” reluctantly said Zane.

“Aargh!” Kai yelled in an outburst of anger turning to give his back to the others. He let hope awaken in his heart again when he found the foil and now, in a matter of minutes, the Red Ninja felt betrayed and sick. “We're never getting home!” He furiously kicked a piece of metal sending it off the ship and Jay rolled his eyes and smiled fondly at him as a wise old man would stare at a child's tantrum.

“So, it doesn't work.” He stated with a little shrug of his shoulders. “I'm telling you guys, I'm feeling so much better now that I have accepted our situation! This,” he spread his arms wide looking around to embrace the surroundings. “Is our new home.”

Kai shot him a glare, but Jay didn't notice. Since he went nuts two days prior his eyes would dart everywhere, as if he was constantly following a fly with his gaze. Cole noticed Kai was about to direct his burning rage towards the Blue Ninja and diplomatically interjected before things could go worse.

“You don't... sound yourself Jay...”

Kai snorted in the background, pacing back and forth trying to collect some calm. Cole silently warned him with a stern look that the other ignored. Zane kept watching from above, still on top of the box behind the radio.

“I'm just saying you don't have to freak about it, duh,” replied the Blue Ninja.

“You aren't freaking out?” Kai just couldn't hold back, he needed to get that frustration he felt off of his chest. Jay those last two days was just the perfect target, both triggering his fury and at the same time deflecting it when he darted it towards him. “Because it's freaking ME out!”

“Kay baby,” chirped the Master of Lightning lovingly. Kai was still pacing with his hands through his hair but when he heard the pet name he dangerously strode towards Jay from behind, his fingers aching to close around that neck to strangle him. The Blue Ninja continued talking, oblivious. “It's much easier cooping with life's problems when you let go of hope.”

Now, that made Kai stop. Let go of hope. Those words started to play in his mind. All his anger evaporated and he dropped his arms as he observed Jay sliding down the bridge laughing like a kid. Zane was immediately near him, his hand gently closing on his shoulder. The Fire Ninja looked into the neon blue eyes of his brother to find some answers, some reassurance, but he couldn't see nothing. He felt a tight grip into his chest. The white noise kept buzzing in the background. Jay whipped around, waving at them.

“Hey, turn up that music! That's my buttering jam! Yeah-ea!”

Cole cringed, his face morphing into a bitter smile. It pained him too much looking at Jay, at his brother, at his best friend, who willingly was spiralling down, down in that black hole that was his broken mind. It ripped his very soul he couldn't protect him.

“Yeah-ea...!” He echoed him with no joy, just remorse. The Earth Ninja glanced over to Kai and Zane, hiding tears that desperately wanted to flood his dust-covered face. “He's totally lost it.”  
Cole couldn't cry. He had to be strong. He had to be the rock they could all clutch on. He had to be steady and solid. He had to fight with all his might against those powerful waves of desperation, for his friends, for his family.

“Nope. I've totally found it.”

Apparently Jay heard him. They looked away uneasy, all of them the same unspoken question in their own minds. What if he was right?

Zane kept watch through the whole night alone in the darkness.


End file.
